CU-Boulder Projects Fall's Freshman Class Will Be Smaller Than Last Year

The University of Colorado projects its incoming freshman class will number 5,500 students this fall, which would be on target with the average size of classes in past years, but smaller than last year.

CU officials won't know the exact size of its Class of 2016 until mid-September, after the university takes an official census, said Malinda Miller-Huey, a spokeswoman for the Boulder campus.

But it appears that CU is on track to enroll roughly 5,500 new freshmen, according to Lou McClelland, director of director of institutional analysis at the school. That tally includes students who are starting this summer, such as athletes and those in a quick-start engineering program, she said.

Last year, CU enrolled 5,663 new freshmen. In the fall of 2010, the campus enrolled 5,160 new freshmen -- but that uncharacteristic dip in enrollment was caused by a glitch in the new student information system that caused delays in acceptance notifications and deterred some in-state students from confirming at CU, according to the university.